Six prison inmates who saved their prison guard’s life will have their sentences reduced by a Georgia sheriff who appreciated their honorable conduct.
“Anytime we have a trustee, or inmate crew, that goes beyond normal duties, we cut them some extra time off,” Polk County Sheriff Johnny Moats told WXIA on Wednesday.
Each inmate will have his sentence slashed by around 25 percent.
Instead of making a run for it—which they could have, given their circumstances—the six inmates chose to rescue a Georgia deputy after he collapsed on June 12. The group was out in a remote area of Polk County cutting grass in a cemetery in the lead up to Fathers Day. The deputy, who asked not to be identified, had several coughing spells during 100-percent-humidity weather. After a couple of minutes, he collapsed face first.
“Once I actually went down, I was already in one of my hyperventilating spells,” the deputy told WXIA. “So at that point, I was just trying to breathe. I really wasn’t thinking much, but just trying to get everything under control.”
But the six inmates didn’t abandon him. They opened his shirt to remove his bulletproof vest and performed CPR on him. One of the inmates used the guard’s phone to call 911.
“That moment when they’re out, they’re not really inmates to you,” the deputy told WXIA. “They’re just a group of guys and you’re out. You try to be more like friends, and in my case, it just worked out for the better.”
In addition to reduced sentences, the prisoners got free lunch, and praise from netizens across the nation on Facebook.
“Just goes to show you that because good individuals could be anywhere. Just beacause [sic] they made a poor decision to get into jail, they would still help some one out saving their life. Way to go guys,” commented Melody Cooper Just.
“Inmates, you just showed the world why you’re allowed out on a work detail! Congratulations and thank you for being ”stand up“ guys. You showed you know and will do the right thing!” Lois Barrett said
“This renews faith in those who have made bad choices. They have good hearts to start with and circumstances sometimes gets the best of them,” Karen Bailey Colbert said.
